remind: Geneticist claims to have found 'God gene' in humans

From 2004, always an interesting topic. Especially one that pushes fundies over the edge.

LONDON — An American molecular geneticist has concluded after comparing more than 2,000 DNA samples that a person's capacity to believe in God is linked to brain chemicals.

His findings have been criticized by leading clerics, who challenge the existence of a "God gene" and say the research undermines a fundamental tenet of faith — that spiritual enlightenment is achieved through divine transformation rather than the brain's electrical impulses.

Dean Hamer, the director of the Gene Structure and Regulation Unit at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, asked volunteers 226 questions in order to determine how spiritually connected they felt to the universe.

The higher their score, the greater the person's ability to believe in a greater spiritual force and, Mr. Hamer found, the more likely they were to share the gene VMAT2.

more...

http://washingtontimes.com/world/20041114-111404-8087r.htm

Let the March of the Mad Scientists commence!

Am I nuts? I think all human behavior is most likely genetically based. And there are evolutionary reasons for all of it.

having a God gene? It's not like it discredits God at all. Actually it would make me believe even more in God.

the existence of God (because then why wouldn't everyone have it?) I do think it would make life easier for atheists and agnostics, who often have a tough path.

it was in your genes! :)

Much of the church believes that faith is given by God. Offered to all freely. This would seem to support the Calvinist idea that God saves those He wants and damns those He wants. That belief is a pretty direct road to discrimination.

That one I figure is more a lack of a critical thought processing gene though.

It might be a combination of the two though. God Gene minus the Critical Thinking Gene = Conspiracy Woo Woo.

:spray:

:rofl:

Best explanation I've heard!

Are evidencing processing errors in the inferior frontal junction, which may be the area of the brain where complex concepts are first created.
Give this a read: http://develintel.blogspot.com/2006/05/conceptual-thinking-just-out-of-touch.html

At least that's where I'd start looking. Whether or not there's a genetic component I wouldn't hazard a guess, but I'm pretty sure that there is some kind of conceptual or symbolic processing error occurring across a lot of seemingly disparate phenomena. If these types of errors are then reinforced because of a faulty belief system then perhaps we might have a rough approximation of what is going on in the mind of a person who tends towards conspiracist explanations. This is of course pure speculation on my part and shouldn't be taken seriously.

Conspiracy nuts have an obsessive need to give meaning to major events, they cannot accept that sometimes shit happens. You can see this with the assination of JFK. A crazy guy (with communist conections that may or may not have any influence behind his motives) shoots JFK, but these people can't accept it was a meaningless act of violence, thier obession makes them refuse to beleive that such an imporant person could be brought down because of a crazy man's sick mind, they must construct a vast conspiracy theory because in thier minds the assination of a great person requires the meaning given an equally great conspiracy. Basically, thier obsession makes them see patterns that don't exist.

...why a big chunk of my family tree is infested with Lutheran ministers...

Part of an age in which reductionism has moved beyond being a tool for critical thinking to the point where it's used to make everything of value just go away. We've become far too hip to think anything is important, except for these sterile little giblets cut from the heart of discovery.

There's no love, there's a love gene. There's no art, there's an art gene. God? Nope, it's a god gene. And if there's no gene for it, there's a meme, instead.

Or maybe an engram. Yeah, that's the ticket!

Perhaps there is a pathological reductionism gene/meme/engram, too.

--p!

You are quoting the Moonie Times. You might as well quote Koresh! No one believes that rag.

I mean, it's not as though we can freely choose the chemical structure of our brains. It's hypothesized that homosexuality is a similiar case. People aren't homosexuals by choice, but rather in virtue of their genetic and central nervous system structure. It just kind of reveals that the bigotry espoused to homosexuals is just that - bigotry. That's why the fundies are kicking and screaming against the idea of homosexuality being anything but a choice. Could be the same thing with this.

And for us materialists - there are still things such as love and art, etc. It's just that they don't stem from some mysterious "soul" - they have a neural basis. Consciousness arises by virtue of activity in the brain. Just where that center is, however, remains to be seen.

how people go from atheist to this religion to that religion back to atheist or agnostic and back again....

Next up, they'll find an ice cream flavor gene.

Neopolitan.:)

go through a revaluation of many beliefs. This would especially be true with a person with a border line amount of the critical chemical that they were looking at. Much like bi-sexuals.

regarding organ transplant recipients craving food they never cared for before the transplant. I know several people will question the source of the article however, I still found it interesting.

http://www.nexusmagazine.com/articles/CellularMemories.html

Disorder?

Through gene therapy of some sort we could find a cure for the disorder.

limited to conception. By the time the female egg is fertilized the die is cast. I expect that man will drift toward perfect specimens for each job and need. Much like 1984 predicted.

What you said sounds more like Brave New World to me, but I'm probably missing the point.

how government is always looking for a path to more power. The Republicans of course are worse than us Democrats, I hope.